Shaun Evans, 45, was born and brought up in Liverpool before he moved to London at 18 to study at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He is best known for playing Inspector Morse in Endeavour as well as Elliot Glover in Vigil.
My favourite author
At the moment it’s Nick Laird. He’s a writer from the north of Ireland whose work is funny, moving and very smart. Attention from his collection Up Late was the first of his poems I read and that got me hooked.
The novelist and poet Nick Laird
DAVID LEVENSON/GETTY IMAGES
The book I’m reading
I just finished an absolute gem of a book called Brian by Jeremy Cooper about an outsider working for Camden council who discovers film at the BFI. It’s a terrific story about friendship and community and how art gives meaning to our lives. I’ve also been taking a course on the history of the Japanese crime novel. One of the books is called The Honjin Murders — a locked room story, my least favourite of the genre. I still don’t know who did it.
The book I wish I’d written
A photography book called Vagabond Photographer by Sergio Larraín. He was a Chilean photographer who worked with Magnum photo agency for a relatively short time before retiring. It’s a magnificent book.
The book I’m ashamed I haven’t read
I don’t feel any shame about the gaps in my reading. The Odyssey and The Iliad I still haven’t started. Well I’ve started but not finished, but I’ve just discovered my friend Anton Lesser has done the audiobook of The Odyssey so maybe that’s the key.
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My favourite film
At the moment it’s a short film called …A Valparaíso. It’s documentary footage of this Chilean port town with poetry and words overlaid. It’s very lyrical and reminds me of another favourite, which is Of Time and the City by the late, great Terence Davies. Again, Sergio Larraín made a book about Valparaiso, which is what attracted me to the film.
The film-maker Terence Davies
ANGELO CARCONI/EPA-EFE/SHUTTERSTOCK
My favourite play
The last one I saw: End, written by David Eldridge, starring Clive Owen and Saskia Reeves. It’s the third in a trilogy of plays. He’s a great mate and a truly brilliant writer. It’s about the male character deciding he no longer wants to take medication for his terminal cancer, and the effect that has on his partner. I was quietly sobbing for the majority of it.
The last TV series I watched
The French show The Bureau — I loved all five seasons. I was watching it for research but got completely drawn in. Brilliant, smart scripts and performances to match.
Jonathan Zaccaï, Jules Sagot and Mathieu Amalric in The Bureau
ALAMY
My favourite piece of music
Anything by Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou. She was an Ethiopian nun who composed. I just love it, and wonder if her life could be made into a biopic.
The composer and pianist Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou
My favourite lyric
“The people have the power, the power to dream, to rule, to wrestle the world from fools” by Patti Smith.
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The instrument I wish I’d learnt
The flute, but for some reason one of the music teachers at my school insisted I play the double bass, which was way too big to get on the bus home, so I never practised and soon gave it up. That said, I think I still remember the notes for Eleanor Rigby.
The music that cheers me up
Anything by Teddy Thompson. I’m a proper fan. The lyrics are funny and smart. Wry, with a good melody.
The folk and rock musician Teddy Thompson
JASON KEMPIN/GETTY IMAGES
If I could own one painting it would be
One that hangs in the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool by the artist Christopher Wood called French Cyclists with a Girl. Again, I think he could do with a biopic about his life, which was cut short in his late twenties.
French Cyclists with a Girl by Christopher Wood
WALKER ART GALLERY
The place I feel happiest
Hanging with my family, wherever that may be.
My guilty pleasure
I don’t feel at all guilty about it but love Pasta Grannies. Nonnas in Italy making pasta from scratch in their kitchens: so comforting.
I’m having a fantasy dinner party. I’ll invite these artists and authors
Everyone I’ve mentioned. Sergio, David, Christopher Wood, Emahoy, the director of …A Valparaíso [Joris Ivens] and Terence Davies, Nick Laird and the author of The Honjin Murders [Seishi Yokomizo], Teddy Thompson and I’d throw in the fictional character of Brian, though he probably wouldn’t come. Pasta Grannies would do the catering.
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And I’ll put on this music
Emahoy. At least to start with, then segueing onto Teddy. Live, obviously.
Shaun Evans stars in Endeavour on ITV1